..Here, we strongly repudiate misconceptions, resulting from observations that melatonin reduces the plasma insulin level, that the blockage of melatonin receptors would be of benefit in the treatment of type 2 diabetes...

Circannual morphometric investigations of the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus after pinealectomy, ganglionectomy and thyroidectomy

..Additionally, it could be shown that the degree of negative correlation between the pineal and the SCN was seasonally dependent. The lowest effects of PX, GX and TX were registered at short-day conditions (December, L:D = 8:16)...

..The melatonin effect observed mimics carbachol action. It can be abolished by 30 micromol/L luzindole and is sustained in Ca2+-free medium, suggesting a mechanism that includes the depletion of Ca2+ from intracellular stores...

..In summary, it can be concluded that the developed and validated direct RIA meets the requirements for the determination of melatonin and is especially suitable for the analysis of melatonin in different mouse strains...

Loss of melatonin signalling and its impact on circadian rhythms in mouse organs regulating blood glucose

..These calcium-signaling components are known as participants in the calcium/calmodulin pathway, which plays an important functional role in the modulation of the β-cell signaling pathways leading to insulin secretion. ..

..This might explain the reported correlation between the decreased insulin receptor mRNA transcript levels in GK rat pinealocytes and the lack of effect of insulin on ion channels in their cell membranes. ..

The central myelin-peripheral myelin transitional zone of the nervus intermedius and its implications for microsurgery in the cerebellopontine angle

..The exact location of the ORZ may play a role in diagnostic preoperative imaging, in the planning of surgical procedures for NIN, and may offer suitable landmarks for surgeons performing microvascular decompression in NIN treatment...

Photo-degradation of melatonin: influence of argon, hydrogenperoxide, and ethanol

..Ethanol, as a potent scavenger of *OH, efficiently blocks the effect of this aggressive radical even at low concentrations of that scavenger (0.1% v/v) but is less effective in preventing photo-degradation of melatonin...